Method of creating incentives for establishing hotspot locations

ABSTRACT

A process of creating incentives for wireless hotspots by a service provider is disclosed. An access point is provided to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices to wirelessly connect to a larger network in a publicly accessible location. Use of the access point for a portable device is authenticated by requesting submission of an account identifier to the service provider and billing data for a user of the portable device for use of the access point is generated. Use statistics are evaluated of the access point of the wireless hotspot by portables devices and an inducement is provided to the publicly accessible location based on the evaluated use statistics.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/513,092, filed on Aug. 31, 2006, which issued on Oct. 7, 2008 as U.S.Pat. No. 7,433,650, which, in turn, is a continuation application ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/916,402, filed on Aug. 12, 2004,which issued on Oct. 10, 2006 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,120,420, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/315,145, filed onDec. 10, 2002, which issued on Sep. 21, 2004 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,795,700,and which claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 60/409,936, filed on Sep. 12, 2002. The subject matter of thisearlier filed application is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to devices and networks that utilizewireless computer networks and methods of creating incentives forestablishment and continued operation of wireless computer networks. Thepresent invention further relates to methods and networks that allowusers to access wireless services from wireless hotspots withoutrequiring an account with each wireless hotspot location. Additionally,the present invention also provides incentives to rapidly expand thegrowth of wireless services to create an economic base of wirelessservices users and wireless hotspots locations.

2. Description of Related Art

The emergence of what are commonly called wireless hotspots hasincreased the mobility of wireless users and allowed mobile users toaccess network resources without requiring a physical connection to thelarge network. Many of these wireless hotspots have appeared in coffeeshops and libraries, and allow users with wireless communicationequipment to communicate with local area networks and wide area networksas they move about. The locations that provide the access do so toattract customers or because, in the case of libraries, they see suchaccess as an extension of their governmental mandate. However, theequipment, monitoring and access services are not free, and the providerof the hotspot has to bear the burden of those expenses. As an example,a T-1 digital connection can cost approximately $1000 per month in 2002rates to provide such a level of service. If the expansion of wirelesshotspots is to continue so that they become ubiquitous, one possibilityis for the persons using the hotspots to take up some portion of thecosts.

In addition, there is also a “chicken or the egg” type problem withwireless access. Since the relative number of users of wireless devicesin 2002 is not high, establishments do not generally have any incentiveto provide wireless service for a small number of users. Similarly,while the number of establishments offering wireless services is small,users of the wireless devices do not generally have any incentive tosign up for those services if they are available in only a few places.One of the benefits of having consumers pay for the access services isthat this would allow for the party receiving payments to createincentives to expand wireless access and thus increase the amount ofpayments received by the party receiving payments.

As such, there is a need for a method or mechanism that can createincentives for wireless devices and wireless hotspots to spread the useof wireless access. In addition, there is also a need for a system and amethod that can monitor the use of existing services offered by wirelesshotspot to wireless devices and provide incentives to expand theexisting services based on use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to overcome the drawbacks of theabove-described conventional network devices and methods. The presentinvention is directed to software applications and systems that allowfor controls to be placed on the type and amount of data received andsent based on access criteria. Those controls are important in that theyallow the end user or the device to control the amount of data receivedfrom or sent to the wireless network that the system will process anddisplay.

According to one aspect of this invention, a process of creatingincentives for wireless hotspots by a service provider is disclosed. Anaccess point is provided to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices towirelessly connect to a larger network in a non-private location. Use ofthe access point for a portable device is authenticated by requiringsubmission of an account identifier to the service provider and a userof the portable device is billed for use of the access point. Usestatistics are evaluated of the access point of the wireless hotspot byportables devices and an inducement is provided to the non-privatelocation based on the evaluated use statistics.

Alternatively, the use statistics may be the number of users of theaccess point of the wireless hotspot or the types of services utilizedby users of the access point of the wireless hotspot. Also, theauthentication of use of the access point for a portable device may bethrough requiring submission of an account identifier to one of awireless telephone service provider and a landline telephone serviceprovider. The inducements may include providing a proprietor of thewireless hotspot with a portion of revenue received by the serviceprovider based on the step of billing a user of the portable device foruse of the access point. The inducements may also include providingsubsidized access to the access point of the wireless hotspot forcertain users affiliated with the wireless hotspot.

The process may include advertising services available from the wirelesshotspot to users of the access point of the wireless hotspot, where theadvertisement may be made through the access point to users of theaccess point of the wireless hotspot or through a wireless telephonenetwork. Additionally, the inducement may include upgrading equipmentutilized by the access point, where enhanced equipment may be providedto the wireless hotspot to provide greater bandwidth access to portabledevices accessing the access point. Also, the inducement may includeproviding specialized content to the wireless hotspot.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a system formonitoring of wireless hotspots and creating incentives for wirelesshotspots by a service provider is disclosed. The system includes firstproviding means for providing an access point to a wireless hotspot forwireless devices to wirelessly connect to a larger network in anon-private location and authenticating means for authenticating use ofthe access point for a portable device by requiring submission of anaccount identifier to the service provider. The system further includesbilling means for billing a user of the portable device for use of theaccess point, evaluating means for evaluating the use statistics of theaccess point of the wireless hotspot by portable devices and secondproviding means for providing an inducement to the non-private locationbased on the evaluated use statistics.

In another embodiment, a system for monitoring of wireless hotspots andcreating incentives for wireless hotspots by a service provider isdisclosed. The system includes a first provider for providing an accesspoint to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices to wirelessly connectto a larger network in a non-private location and an authenticator forauthenticating use of the access point for a portable device byrequiring submission of an account identifier to the service provider.The system also includes an accounting system for billing a user of theportable device for use of the access point, an evaluator for evaluatingthe use statistics of the access point of the wireless hotspot byportables devices and a second provider for providing an inducement tothe non-private location based on the evaluated use statistics.

These and other objects of the present invention will be described in orbe apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the present invention to be easily understood and readily practiced,preferred embodiments will now be described, for purposes ofillustration and not limitation, in conjunction with the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a wireless telephone systemhaving multiple cells, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic representation of a wireless hotspot withan access point and several wireless devices, according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of a wireless hotspot with connections todifferent network entities, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 provides a schematic representation of the good and servicesexchanged to provide incentives for wireless access;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of the process of providing incentivesfor wireless access, according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of the process of providing incentivesfor wireless access, according to another embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of the process of providing incentivesfor wireless access, according to one embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a system and a method for creatingincentives to establish hotspot locations. Part of the incentive systemallows users of the wireless hotspot to provide identifying informationand be billed later for their usage. In one embodiment, the user couldsupply a wireless or landline telephone number and the user's accountwith the wireless telephone service provider would be billed. Thepresent invention allows for wireless or landline telephone serviceproviders or third party service providers to provide wireless hotspotequipment and service to locations to increase the use of their servicesand increase their profits through billing of users.

The process of creating incentives for wireless access may be carriedout by different candidates that seek to benefit from the expansion ofwireless services. One candidate for offering these services is landlinetelephone and wireless telephone providers, where those providersalready provide landline, cellular and other wireless telephone dataservices to their users. Following a similar model as that used formobile telephones, access to wireless hotspots can be coordinatedthrough wireless telephone service providers, with the wirelesstelephone service providers assisting in authentication of users,monitoring of usage, and billing of users for usage.

Another candidate for offering wireless hotspot services would be athird party that supplies services to the wireless hotspot locations,provides authentication of users and processes and forwards billinginformation to the billing party. Thus, the third party would providethe interface between the hotspots and an entity with which the user ofthe hotspot has an account. The third party could be a telephone companyor a wireless telephone company or another service provider.

A general cellular telephone network is illustrated in FIG. 1. Multiplecells 111 b, 112 b and 113 b are established through the use of antennas111 a, 112 a and 113 a. Devices 101-104 having access to the cellulartelephone network are able to move from cell to cell and maintain accesswith the network. Each antenna 111 a-113 a can be connected through link120 with a service provider 130. The service provider 130 controlsaccess to the network and coordinates the handing-off of access as thedevices pass between the cells. The service provider identifies eachdevice and routes communication to the proper location of the particulardevice. The devices 101-104 may be cellular telephones, computers withwireless modems, or other devices that exchange information with theservice provider.

A general wireless hotspot installation is illustrated in FIG. 2. Thehotspot is controlled through an access point 200, with the access pointhaving an antenna 201 a to establish a wireless access zone 201 b. Thewireless access may be made through an IEEE 802.11 standard local areanetwork (LAN) or other type of wireless network. Devices 210-212 withinthe hotspot are able to communicate with the larger network 230 throughcommunication with the access point 200. The access point 200 has acommunication link 220 with the larger network 230 and the access pointacts to enable communication between the devices 210-212 and the largernetwork and between the devices. As examples, the devices 210-212 may becomputers equipped with 802.11 access cards, personal data assistantsenabled for wireless access, cellular telephones having multiple meansfor wireless access or comparable devices. The larger network may be theInternet or some private wide area network.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention. A wirelesshotspot is illustrated, with the coverage of the hotspot set by theaccess point 300 through an antenna 301 a. The range of the hotspot isillustrated by the range 301 b. Devices 310 and 311 within the range 301b may potentially establish a connection with the hotspot. The access tothe access point is controlled through the access controller 305 thatmay be hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof. Acommunication connection 315 is established between the access point 300and the larger network 330 where that connection is modulated by arouter 308.

Also illustrated in FIG. 3 is a wireless or landline telephone serviceprovider 340. The service provider 340 contains a database 342 of usersof the telephone network. The wireless or landline telephone serviceprovider provides services through an antenna 321 a, through aconnection 320, to provide a coverage area 321 b. The coverage area 321b for the wireless telephone service may also include some or all of thewireless hotspot range 301 b.

FIG. 4 provides a schematic view of the goods, services and informationexchanged between parties in order to create incentives. The wirelesshotspot provider provides services to the portable device user, such asnetwork access to a larger network, be it the Internet or a privateintranet. The hotspot provider acts as a conduit for the portable deviceuser to the larger network, and can also provide content that isspecific to the hotspot. The latter type of content data may be menuitems if the hotspot proprietor provides food or drink or may beinformation about access to a color printer if the hotspot providesaccess to such a color printer. The hotspot provider also can provideadvertising for available services, advertising ads for sponsors of thehotspot, or advertising of other entities that have contracted toadvertising served to users. In terms of goods, services and informationprovided by the portable device provides payments to the hotspot. Thatpayment can be direct payment for services, a portion of paymentsreceived through revue sharing, and increased sales revenue because ofadditional customers brought in through the offering of wirelessservices. Additionally, the portable device user may provide feedback tothe hotspot provider. Such feedback may assist the hotspot provider andother entities to tailor their services to specific types of users thatare desired.

Also, in FIG. 4, the hotspot provider also interacts with either awireless telephone provider or a landline telephone provider. In thecase of either entity, the hotspot provider provides feedback about theamount and types of services that are being used by portable deviceuser. Such feedback is important because it allows the telephoneprovider to determine if services to the hotspot provider should beexpanded, decreased or maintained at a present level. The hotspotprovider also provides information about new users that may sign up forservices through the hotspot. In addition, the hotspot provider alsoprovides advertising data to the wireless or landline telephoneprovider, so that updated information about the capabilities of thehotspot can be advertised to the portable device users, as discussedbelow.

FIG. 4 also shows the goods, services and information provided to thehotspot provider from the wireless or landline telephone provider. Afirst incentive that may be provided to the hotspots would be equipment.Such equipment may be provided to the hotspot with, for example, theproviso that services be provided through the telephone provider. Inthat case, the hotspot provider would be able to offer services and notrequired to front the expenses for the wireless access equipment. Aspart of that arrangement, the telephone provider may also providenetwork services to the hotspot and can also provide content to thehotspot. Such content may be specific to the hotspot, such that onlycertain types of hotspots may carry specific content, e.g. a networkgaming environment may only be provided to a specific coffee shoplocations to provide an extra incentive to visit those locations.

Additionally, subsidies may also be provided to the hotspot provider.These subsidies may be in the form of reduced cost access to networkservices for the hotspot proprietor and their employees. The subsidiescould also be in the form of a rebate for extra equipment installed in ahotspot provider. The telephone provider may also provide upgrades tothe services and/or equipment of the hotspot based on the usage of thehotspot or other criteria. Also, the telephone provider and the hotspotprovider may engage in a revenue sharing agreement between them so thatthe hotspot provider receives a portion or a set amount for the amountof revenue that is provided to the telephone provider because of theaccess provided by the hotspot. Lastly, the telephone provider may alsoprovide incentives for users that may be passed along to the user. Suchincentives could be, for example, coupons to be found in the hotspotlocation for reduced costs for access or incentives to be passed alongto the user through the advertising by the hotspot, as discussed above.

Also illustrated in FIG. 4 are examples of goods, services and data thatare exchanged between the portable device user and either the wirelessor landline telephone provider. Included among those may be userincentives, where the incentives could be directly sent to the useroffering reduced costs or other inducements. For example, a user mayreceive such a message as a part of the user's download of data throughtheir wireless telephone. Also, the telephone provider may alsoadvertise the services for the hotspot location, providing locations ofand services provided by the hotspot locations. As part of receivingaccess, the portable device user provides payment to the telephoneprovider, where the monitoring and billing of the access may be handledby the telephone provider. The telephone provider may also provideservices directly, such as wireless telephone services and the telephoneprovider may also receive feedback about the user's experience withgaining and maintaining access to the larger network through the hotspotlocation.

The process of creating incentives for establishment of wirelesshotspots, according to one embodiment, is illustrated in FIG. 4. Thefirst step 401 calls for providing an access point for wireless devicesto wirelessly connect to a larger network in a non-private location. Itis noted that other embodiments of the present invention can provide anaccess point in a private location, but the incentives would bedifferent since all of the users would need to have access to theprivate location to use the private location. After the access point isprovided, users seeking to access services of the access point arerequired to submit an account identifier from a service provider, instep 402, such as a wireless telephone service provider. If the accountidentifier is authenticated, then the user is allowed access. It isnoted that the account identifier may be a single datum, such as atelephone number, or may be a series of data, such as a telephonenumber, password, etc. or may be a series of responses to queries froman authenticating entity.

The use of the access point is monitored and the user is billed by theservice provider for that usage, in step 403. This billing may be madeon the basis of how much time the user spent logged on to the accesspoint, may be based on the bandwidth used by the user, or may be billedbased on another agreement between the user and the service provider.Additionally, incentives can be provided to the non-private locationbased on use of the access point, in step 404. The incentives couldinclude discounted services for the proprietor of the non-privatelocation or some form of payment back to the proprietor. Such incentiveswould depend on the use of the access point by the users so that theproprietor would have an incentive to advertise the services provided bythe access point. This advertising can alert the users of specialattributes of the hotspot that may match certain requirements of theuser. Such attributes could include voice over IP, video streaming, ordetail the expected bandwidth that a user of the hotspot should be ableto use. As an example, a hotspot location could provide for rapidpicture uploading and that specific service may be advertised tointerested users. Additionally, the services offered by the hotspotlocations may be bundled, so that users may select the type or servicethat they want to be authorized for.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a third party would actas an agent for the service provider and would create the incentive forestablishing the hotspot locations. In this embodiment, the serviceprovider, such as a wireless telephone provider 350 would have accountinformation for the user in its database 352. The third party company340 would act as a go-between and would maintain its own records ofusers in its own database 342. The benefit of the third party company inthis embodiment of the present invention is that the company wouldprovide the interface between the wireless hotspot and the serviceprovider and would not require any direct interaction between theservice provider and the wireless hotspot. Another benefit of the thirdparty company embodiment is that users could supply account data foraccounts they have with entities other than the wireless telephoneservice provider, such as a television cable company or an Internetservice provider.

The process of creating incentives for establishment of wirelesshotspots, according to the latter embodiment, is illustrated in FIG. 5.The first step 501 calls for providing an access point for wirelessdevices to wireless connect to a larger network in a non-privatelocation. After the access point is provided, users seeking to accessservices of the access point are required to submit an accountidentifier from an appropriate entity, in step 502, such as a wirelesstelephone service provider or other service provider. If the accountidentifier is authenticated, then the user is allowed access. The use ofthe access point by the user is logged until the use of the access pointis terminated, in step 503. After that, the information about the user'sactivities is provided to the service provider in a format that theservice provider can use to bill the user.

The present invention is also directed to monitoring and augmenting theservices provided by the hotspots based on use. An example of theprocess is illustrated in FIG. 6. Data are collected on the use of theaccess point by the users of the wireless devices, in step 601 and thatdata is used to make allocation decisions, in step 602. Based on theallocation decision, greater services can be provided to the hotspotlocation when the decision is made favorably, in step 603. Thus, if anaccess point has a high usage and users are not fully able to use theservices of the hotspot, then the access point can be provided withgreater capacity. Such incentives would be in the interest of theservice provider or third party company because it may allow for greateruse and greater profitability of the hotspot location.

It is noted that the present application is directed, at least in part,to wireless hotspots. The use of the term wireless hotspot or hotspot isapplicable to any wireless access point. The term wireless hotspot orhotspot, as used in the specification and claims, should not beconstrued to be limited to a single type of locale or be construed asproviding access according to only a particular wireless access format,such as the IEEE 802.11 standard. It would also be within the scope ofthe invention to implement the disclosed elements of the invention indiscrete electronic components, thereby taking advantage of thefunctional aspects of the invention. Additionally, the present inventioncan be implemented totally or partially through software.

Although the invention has been described based upon these preferredembodiments, it would be apparent to those of skilled in the art thatcertain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions wouldbe apparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of theinvention. In order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention,therefore, reference should be made to the appended claims.

1. A method, comprising: receiving, by at least one mobile device, animage relating to one or both of a good and/or a service associated withan entity operating a wireless hotspot, the image for modifying anappearance of a screen of the at least one mobile wireless device;providing, by the at least one mobile device, via the wireless hotspot,to one of a wireless telephone provider or a landline telephoneprovider, information about the amount and types of services being usedby a user of the at least one mobile wireless device; and receiving, bythe at least one mobile device, an offer of services from the wirelesshotspot, wherein said offer of services is based on a determination ofwhether previous services offered from the wireless hotspot should beexpanded, decreased, or maintained, wherein the determination is made bythe one of a wireless telephone provider or a landline telephoneprovider and is based on the provided information.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the image forbundled goods and/or services to the at least one mobile wireless devicefor modifying a browser window configured to allow users of the at leastone mobile wireless device to make a selection.
 3. The method of claim2, further comprising: receiving data associated with at least one goodand/or service associated with the entity configured to provide thewireless hotspot.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying theconnection comprises receiving an identifier of the wireless hotspot. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises identifying theconnection to the wireless hotspot configured to provide wireless accessvia an IEEE 802.11 local area network.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe identifying comprises providing the connection to the wirelesshotspot via an IEEE 802.11 local area network to a user of the at leastone mobile wireless device free of charge in exchange for the user'sconsent to receive ads.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting advertising ads for the entity configured to provide thewireless hotspot to the at least one mobile wireless device.
 8. Asystem, comprising: an access point configured to transmit an imagerelating to one or both of a good and/or a service associated with anentity operating a wireless hotspot, the image for modifying anappearance of a screen of at least one mobile wireless device, whereinthe wireless hotspot provides, to one of a wireless telephone provideror a landline telephone provider, information about the amount and typesof services being used by a user of the at least one mobile wirelessdevice, and wherein services to the wireless hotspot are expanded,decreased, or maintained based on the provided information.
 9. A system,comprising: a transmitter for transmitting an image relating to one orboth of a good and/or a service associated with an entity operating awireless hotspot, for modifying an appearance of a screen of at leastone mobile wireless device; and wherein the wireless hotspot provides,to one of a wireless telephone provider or a landline telephoneprovider, information about the amount and types of services being usedby a user of the at least one mobile wireless device, and whereinservices to the wireless hotspot are expanded, decreased, or maintainedbased on the provided information.
 10. A method, comprising: receiving,by a mobile wireless device, an image relating to one or both of a goodand/or a service associated with an entity operating a wireless hotspot;modifying an appearance of a screen of the mobile wireless device;providing information, from the mobile wireless device, about the amountand types of services being used by a user of the mobile wirelessdevice, wherein the feedback is provided to one of a wireless telephoneprovider or a landline telephone provider, wherein the feedback is usedto expand, decrease or maintain services to the mobile device from thewireless hotspot.
 11. A method, comprising: transmitting an imagerelating to one or both of a good and/or a service associated with anentity operating a wireless hotspot, the image for modifying anappearance of a screen of at least one mobile wireless device;receiving, by the wireless hotspot, information from the at least onemobile device about the amount and types of services being used by auser of the at least one mobile wireless device; providing, by thewireless hotspot, the information to one of a wireless telephoneprovider or a landline telephone provider; and offering services fromthe wireless hotspot, wherein said offering is based on a determinationof whether previous services offered from the wireless hotspot should beexpanded, decreased, or maintained, wherein the determination is made bythe one of a wireless telephone provider or a landline telephoneprovider and is based on the provided information.